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yulelogue's review against another edition
4.0
Very, very humorous. Pollack writes in first person as himself under the delusion that Pollack the character is the Greatest American Writer. Pretentious as hell and dreadfully unaware and ingenous, Pollack feigns compassion for the sake of purporting the image of being ... well, a human being. Pollack, the character, is an ingenius character because he is willing to drop the act and show that he is a scoundrel. A refreshing comment on the ridiculousness of literature, political correctness, celebrity, media and the ego that accompanies it all. Pollack, the author, does a fantastic job in being fantastic.
nadinekc's review against another edition
4.0
This book seems to either irritate or entertain readers - nothing in between. Call me entertained. Neal Pollack (meaning the voice of this book) is kind of a literary Stephen Colbert (meaning the TV character). Examples: his 1983 Sarah Lawrence commencement speech, "I Have Slept with 500 Women"; a transcript of his surprise appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show while she's interviewing Toni Morrison and Henry Louis Gates Jr. Oprah is thrilled, Toni Morrison giggles when he flirts with her (she even says "tee hee"), and HLG says he learned so much about being a black man by reading Pollack's essay, "I am friends with a working class black woman".
This is the kind of book you read a few pages at a time while you're waiting for water to boil. Maybe the irritated readers tried to read it all the way through.
This is the kind of book you read a few pages at a time while you're waiting for water to boil. Maybe the irritated readers tried to read it all the way through.
piccoline's review
3.0
Very funny. It's smart silly, especially if you know American lit. A little one-note, so best enjoyed in small doses. Ah, McSweeney's.
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